As there is little or no use to be made of a mirror,
though in a frame of gold enchased with all the sparkling
variety of the richest gems, unless it render back the true
similitude of the image it receives; so is there nothing of
profit in a wealthy dowry, unless the conditions, the temper, the humor of the wife be conformable to the natural
disposition and inclination of the husband, and he sees
the virtues of his own mind exactly represented in hers.
Or, if a fair and beautiful mirror that makes a sad and
pensive visage look jocund and gay, or a wanton or smiling countenance show pensive and mournful, is therefore
presently rejected as of no value; thus may not she be
thought an angry, peevish, and importunate woman, that
[p. 491]
louts and lowers upon the caresses of a husband, and
when he courts the pastime of her affections, entertains
him with frumps and taunts, but when she finds him
serious in business, allures him then with her unseasonable toyings to pleasure and enjoyment? For the one is
an offence of impertinency, the other a contempt of her
husband's kindness. But, as geometricians affirm that
lines and surfaces are not moved of themselves, but according to the motions of the bodies to which they belong,
so it behooves a woman to challenge no peculiar passion
or affection as her own, but to share with her husband
in business, in his recreations, in his cares, and in his
mirth.
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